This invention relates in general to jewelry, and more specifically to articles of jewelry utilizing illuminated fiber optics.
In the manufacture of articles of jewelry, it is well known to enhance the appearance of an article such as a pin, brooch or pendant by means of a self-contained light source powered by a battery, also self-contained. U.S. Pat. No. 3,854,563 to Catching and U.S. Pat. No. 3,384,740 to Wood are representative of this type of jewelry. In recent years, the light conducting characteristics of fiber optics have been used in the construction of jewelry and ornamental displays. U.S. Pat. No. 3,431,410 to Dolan et al and U.S. Pat. No. 3,624,384 to Wall are representative of such jewelry and displays. These and other conventional ornamental fiber optics typically use an aligned bundle of fibers that each have one bundled end located next to a light source to receive the light and a free end in either a random, "weeping willow" array or a fixed pattern.
This arrangement of the fibers has serious disadvantages when used in jewelry. First, the bundled arrays are poor receptors of the light emitted from a standard light source such as a small, incandescent light bulb. The bulb radiates light in all directions, but the bundled end receives only the relatively small fraction of the total radiation, typically the light emitted from one end of the bulb. Besides this poor light utilization, this arrangement also limits the number of fibers which can be effectively illuminated and distributes the available light unevenly over the bundle, with the central region of the bundle typically receiving a much more intense illumination than the peripheral fibers. These problems are usually compensated to some extent by using larger bulbs which require larger and heavier batteries.
In addition to these light reception and weight problems, the conventional bundled fiber optics are also ill adapted to use in jewelry because the free, light emitting ends do not direct the light towards a viewer facing the person wearing the jewelry. The droopy array described in Dolan, for example, directs the light downwardly in the general direction of the floor.
It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide a fiber optic array that is constructed to illuminate a relatively flat, compact, light weight article of jewelry, with the illumination emitted by the fibers being readily viewed by a person facing the wearer and contributing to the overall aesthetic appeal of the article.
Another object is to provide a fiber optic array that is readily adapted to a wide variety of jewelry designs, provides a predetermined pattern of light emitting fiber ends and offers a high density of uniformly illuminated fibers.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a fiber optic array that is easily manufactured at a relatively low cost.